How to Split Treasure in a PbP??

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How to Split Treasure in a PbP??

Post by admin »

What method should be used to split treasure in a PbP!?
In table top games, this is always a 'negotiating' task which requires people to check their characters, and explain their needs for this and that.

But in a PbP, it is more difficult as you can't really have a discussion like that - messages are slow going and it can take days for a person to read what is up for grabs.

So the goal of this thread is: HOW BEST to split treasure in a Pbp?!?

3x Ideas:
  1. Use the Loot Divider to 'tag' all the treasure, and compute the 'value' of what PCs received: The first pick goes to the one who has 'taken' the least
    • Needs someone to care for the treasure list
    • Will give a semblance of 'balance' to all PCs
    • PC with less 'valued' items could get more Gold
  2. Go with optimization: someone (team captain?) examines all the characters, and 'splits' the loot to maximize the group's efficiency
    • Needs someone to note all the PCs treasure
    • Will likely create PCs with more items than others
  3. Roll a d100% on Invisible Castle to see the 'order' you can pick stuff. This might be simpler than most method.
    • Very simple
    • Needs to decide if this is re-rolled at each treasure, or to use a permanent 'scrolling' list of PCs (always the same order, but you pick up where the last item was taken)
In any case, lets hear your propositions/ideas on the Topic - we can then setup Polls in the PbPs to let the players 'vote' the system they want to use!
Or are you aware about HOW this is done in other PbPs?

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Re: How to Split Treasure in a PbP??

Post by Arpat »

if there was a way to vote for things... then one could see what was popular and what is not.
personally i dont think its a big thing if someone has more gear then someone else.

i think a good way to deal with these things is to get all gear at one pile, calculate the total and split that amount of gold over the players, they can buy back items in the lost & found store. If for some reason someone really want something he can purchase it. in some rare occassions there is not enough gold for one individual to buy that specific item, so he has to team up with someone else or one could fall back to the who needs it the most. and there is still the issue if everybody wants to buy it. (maybe a roll for order on that item a 1d100)
The gold not spend is gold you get from selling the items. it's not watertight, but a way of doing things. The DM could also add some extra soice by making items look good but not working as intended. an armor +1 that makes you easy to hit. ofcourse then you should be able to best the problem and enjoy a better piece of equipment or be happy to get rid of it. (maybe even after paying a price.)
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Re: How to Split Treasure in a PbP??

Post by Benji »

With my tabletop games, we've tried numerous different ways of splitting the treasure, but the one we've found most fair and effective is the 'Need before Greed vote'.

Basically, how this works is that whenever a new magical item appears it is decided either useless, useful, or situational. If it's useless, then it's simply sold and the money is added to party loot. If it's situational, then it's usually kept in the party treasure until someone can make use of it. If it's useful, then the players all decide on which character it would be most useful for. This seems to work very well. The only problem with using this in a PbP is that the players don't know each other well enough and they generally want their own character to be the most powerful.

I've tried the 'dip' system (I.e. rolling a dice to see who gets first choice, then going down in order) and it really doesn't work very well at all.

Out of your options, the one I like the most is the 'Team Captain' idea. Of course, this role should never be given to the 'Party Leader', instead it should be given to the character who is the most magic independent and who is played by someone known to be fair in their dealings.
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Re: How to Split Treasure in a PbP??

Post by admin »

Ya know, I'm starting to think that because of the nature of a PbP itself (i.e. no direct contact, no easy discussion head to head), it might be best if the DM would actually 'split' the treasure for the players in a fair (and useful) manner.

This would take out the haggling/wasted time to split treasure, and would allow for faster updates of characters (i.e. you know what you get, so you don't have to post 'interim' versions of your character until loot is decided)

Variation of this could be that players 'vote' for item(s) they want, and the DM gives those as best the choices are.
I.E. is A fighter & a rogue wants that +2 shield, the DM gives it to the Fighter - and gives the +1 shield that the fighter had, to the rogue!
Items that nobody wants are sold, except for 'group' items (like a Wand of Curing, Wand of Bull STR)

Of course, DM might not like this method... :P
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Re: How to Split Treasure in a PbP??

Post by larenee »

admin wrote:So the goal of this thread is: HOW BEST to split treasure in a Pbp?!?
3x Ideas:
admin wrote:Use the Loot Divider to 'tag' all the treasure, and compute the 'value' of what PCs received: The first pick goes to the one who has 'taken' the least
I like this idea, but I do see the extra effort required on the part of the GM.
admin wrote:Go with optimization: someone (team captain?) examines all the characters, and 'splits' the loot to maximize the group's efficiency.
This is my preferred meathod, but requires careful treasure selection by the GM to keep balance between all PCs.
admin wrote:Roll a d100% on Invisible Castle to see the 'order' you can pick stuff. This might be simpler than most method.
In pbp games, this may very well be the simplest overall method.

in my face-to-face games, we've always used a combination the second and third. Optimization first, but if there are any items wanted by two or mare PCs, we would dice for them.

in a purely dice-determined picking order, good players will select items with the group in mind.
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Re: How to Split Treasure in a PbP??

Post by Arpat »

:-) taking and ditributing items you found with the party is also a roleplaying thing.
a character like a paladin would want to have anybody but him to wear something protective.
and a egoistical character would want to hold it for himself. but if he or she is lawfull whe would be incined to do what the leader says.
but then... it's a game... maybe there is something usefull in a thief running around in ful plate armor... it sure would help in disabling traps... no need to duck... just close the helmet and push the button.
or pull the lever...
pull the rope?

err... just step on it.
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